So here's what I've been up to in Siena for the past few months...

Aside from my travels to other part of Italy, I’ve been having some small adventures here in Siena. A few weeks ago, I went to my first European football (soccer) game. The game was Siena vs. Lazio and it was played here in Siena. In Siena, women pay 6 or so euro less (almost 10 dollars) then men for football tickets. That, plus the fact that the football stadium is only a two minute walk from my apartment, meant that I had no reason not to go to the game.

It was a good game that ended up in a 1-1 tie. I particularly enjoyed the diehard Sienese fans that yelled at the refs when they made questionable calls. Here are some photos from my first football game in Italy.





My class recently took a small field trip to one of the many contrada’s (neighborhoods) of Siena. There, in the Tortuga (tortoise) contrada, we visited the contrada’s church and museum. Each contrada has its own church, museum, and fountain. Tortuga, being one of the winners of this summer’s Palio, has their current Palio painting (which the winners of the Palio receive each year) on display in the church. The museum holds many artifacts and past Palios from the contrada. Here are some photos of it all:






In my free time a few weeks ago, I ventured outside the walls of Siena to a nearby middle school where I tutored some 7th graders in English. I prepared a game about American pop culture in which they guessed the names of American celebrities. I was surprised how much of American culture is present in Italy, seeing as they not only knew who Beyonce and Lady Gaga were, but they were also very familiar with figures such as Obama and George Clooney. There is so little Italian pop culture that I see in America. This makes me feel a little guilty – why is America so isolated and seemingly unwilling to learn from other countries?

About 2 weeks ago I headed down to the center of Siena at the Piazza del Campo to find that there was a huge outdoor market taking place there. I’ve never seen this in the two months I’ve been here, but it was so exciting to see so many people out in this colder weather. The stalls at the market had a huge variety of merchandise including contrada memorabilia, knick-knacks, clothing, accessories, food and wine. I purchased a slightly pricey bottle of Chianti wine (my personal favorite). In the evening, I returned to the Campo and was surprised that the market was still in full swing, now accompanied by beautiful sparkling lights lining all the rooftops of the Campo. It was a very gorgeous sight. Unfortunately I left my nice camera at home so I couldn’t capture the extent of the beauty with my little point-and-shoot, but here are some photos anyways.




My Italian class took a day off from language learning to learn how to cook traditional Italian food! We learned to make rice stuffed tomatoes, a tomato and bread soup, pici (thick traditional Sienese pasta that we rolled by hand!), a tomato sauce, and tiramisu! Then we ate everything we made. So good!

Update (part 2): Autumn and Sicily

Alrighty, part two of my blog update…

First of all, I’d like to point out that up until now, I have spent my entire life in Southern California. Therefore, I do not know what cold weather really is. Due to my belief that winter consists of a couple rain showers and temperatures in the low 60’s, the last few weeks have been a cold shock to my system. Despite my slow acclamation to the autumn weather, I managed to get myself out of the house and take some pictures of the beautiful autumn leaves at La Fortezza (the fortress) near my apartment.






This is also where I go to exercise when I’m feeling fat from all the food I’ve been eating here. I love the beautiful views from La Fortezza. It almost makes running fun. Almost.

So due to my inability to cope with the cold, I was quite glad to escape to the south of Italy last weekend where the temperatures are considerably warmer. I met up with a friend I know from the US who is currently studying in Florence and we flew from Pisa to Palermo (in Sicily). From Palermo, we ventured across Sicily to the city of Catania, then back to Palermo before returning home.

On my way to Sicily, I managed to snap some nice photos from the plane. I believe this is the Amalfi coast (but I could be wrong). Look at the beautiful blue water!



I think the best way I can describe Sicily is this: when you picture Italy and all the stereotypes that come along with it, you are imagining Sicily. Now I say this in a good way, because Sicily truly completes one’s experience in Italy. They have amazing foods (especially pizza and baked goods), gorgeous buildings (some antiquated and dilapidated), handsome men, hectic drivers, and Italians yelling, gesturing and swearing at each other in Italian. The Sicilians speak far less English than the north of Italy, but they are infinitely more helpful and warm when tourists ask for directions.

There are other stark differences between Sicilians and Tuscans. First of all, the Italian spoke in Sicily can almost be considered its own dialect of Italian. While northern Italians pride themselves on having a more “pure” form of Italian, Sicilians have a very different way of speaking.

Another huge difference is the nightlife. In every other Italian city I have visited, the majority of people go out around 10 or 11 at night and party until about 2 or 3 in the morning. However, the Sicilians do it very, very differently. In Sicily, people go to a bar around 11 or 12, then go to a different bar/dance club until 2 or 3, then head over to another bar for a few hours, then another club. Most people seem to stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning. While the nightlife in Sicily (especially Palermo) is exciting, I had an incredibly exhausting night full of dancing and drinking on my Saturday in Palermo.

Catania is a beautiful city that seems elegant and sophisticated, but is also incredibly colorful with huge outdoor markets of fresh meats, cheeses, fruits, and of course seafood.









The Sicilian countryside is absolutely beautiful with lots of greenery, hills, and palm trees due to the more tropical climate of the south.



In Palermo, my friend and I did some exploring and saw some beautiful sights. Here are some statues, parks, cathedrals, and theaters we found.












We were also directed (by the owners of our hostel) to a delicious bakery that serves the most delicious chocolate cake I have ever tasted.





We also went to a huge seafood dinner. Sicily, being on the water, has a great amount of fresh, delicious fish. Here are some shots I snapped of my dinner before I devoured it.




Although I was not allowed to photograph it, we did go to the Cappuccini Catacombs in Palermo, where years ago some monks began mummifying people once they had died. In the catacombs, there were hundreds of dead bodies on display, all dressed in the clothes they were mummified in. Some corpses had flesh and hair while others were only bone. It was a haunting, yet interesting experience.

Overall, Sicily was beautiful and seemed to be the quintessential Italian experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if I find myself there in search of good food and a little bit of warmth in some of the colder winter months.

Update (Part 1): Bologna and Halloween

It has been far too long since I last updated this blog! My utmost apologies! Needless to say, life has been hectic and busy in Italy, but nonetheless exciting.

Classes have been getting more demanding and I begin to learn more and more complexities of the Italian language and parties/travels have been taking over the rest of my time.

To bring you up to speed with what I've been up to here in Italy, I'll quickly sum it all up here before going into detail about each adventure I've been on.

Three weeks ago I stayed in Bologna for three days with my study abroad program.
Two weeks ago I celebrated Halloween here in Siena.
Last weekend I went to Sicily with a friend from back home who is currently studying in Florence.
This weekend I relaxed in Siena (making this my last full weekend in Siena this semester before all of my crazy traveling starts).

Alright, so first off: Bologna.
Bologna is a big city full of university students, most of which attend the University of Bologna (the oldest university that is still in use in the world). Needless to say, the nightlife in Bologna is exciting and varied due to all the students living there. Even though it was raining half the time my friends and I were there, we still had an amazing time exploring the city and sampling the food and night clubs.
The architecture of Bologna is simply beautiful, with high arches and porticos everywhere. A portico is almost like an overhang that covers the sidewalk so that the people of Bologna can go about their everyday lives and move from one place to another, even when its raining. We were infinitely grateful for these porticos as we toured the city in the rain.
Here are some pictures of the architecture and porticos of Bologna:






Bologna is not only beautiful and full of night life, but it happens to be the gastronomic capital of Italy. The food is unbelievable! Each of the three days we were in Bologna, our study abroad program took us to a different restaurant for lunch and fed us 7 course meals. I think I gained five pounds from that weekend in Bologna alone, but it was all so delicious. We had delicious appetizers of prosciutto and quiche, amazing pumpkin gnocchi, tender pig cheek (which was really good), and fantastic desserts such as creme brule. Tortellini was first created in Bologna, so naturally we had some of that as well.
Here's a picture of the appetizer I had at the last restaurant we ate at (a winery outside of Bologna). Egg quiche and prosciutto with a flowery seasoning. So good.



There were also some fun outdoor fruit and vegetable vendors in Bologna. Check it out.




Our program also took us on tours of both a Parmesan cheese factory and a Balsamic Vinegar factory.
At the balsamic vinegar factory, we tasted 4 different kinds of vinegar - some of them aged over 20 years. They were surprisingly sweet and delicious on their own, but incredibly expensive. Here's the currently fermenting vinegar at the factory, stored in barrels until its ready to be bottled.



At the Parmesan cheese factory, we were walked through the entire process that goes into making authentic Parmesan cheese. These huge vats are used to mix the cheese:




There were hundreds and hundreds wheels of cheese stored at the factory.



Bologna was a fantastic experience, and I will probably return before the end of my stay in Italy - especially for the food, if nothing else.

Now, about Halloween...
Halloween isn't too widely celebrated in Europe, but over the years Europe has slowly warmed up to the idea of dressing up on October 31. I don't think I saw any children trick-or-treating in the streets of Siena, but the students of Siena definitely partied hard in honor of Hallows Eve. Many of my fellow American students (including myself) spent the majority of our Halloween at a dance party at La Fortezza (the fortress) near my house. There was a huge party with a DJ and free drinks. I was surprised at how many Italians actually came out in costume. I also get a kick out of being able to say that I celebrated Halloween in a fortress in Italy...